Nets advance; Lakers facing elimination

James Harden totalled 34 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets pulled away in the fourth quarter and closed out their Eastern Conference first-round series with a 123-109 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in New York.

The second-seeded Nets won the series four games to one and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014. Brooklyn will face the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the second round.

Harden made 10 of 17 shots and posted his fourth career postseason triple-double and 11th by a Net. The other 10 were achieved by Hall of Famer Jason Kidd. Harden also posted the first 30-point triple-double in Nets history and joined Dallas guard Luka Doncic as the second player to get a 30-point triple-double in this year’s postseason.

Kyrie Irving added 25 points and Kevin Durant had 24 as the Nets shot 51.2 percent and made 15 of 32 3-point tries. Jayson Tatum, who scored 90 points in the two games in Boston, led the Celtics with 32 points. Tatum shot 12 of 27 from the field as the Celtics sank 11 of 40 3-point tries.

Harden said afterwards: “It’s time to lock in now. We’ve dealt with so much adversity through the regular season, it felt good to get some meaningful games in. We’re a special group, especially when we lock in defensively. If we can get three or four stops in a row we can get it going offensively because we’ve got that much firepower.”

Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and hosts Denver Nuggets overcame a playoff-record 12 3-pointers from Damian Lillard to beat Portland Trail Blazers 147-140 in Game 5.

Lillard finished with 55 points and 10 assists and twice sent the game to extra periods. It was the first 55-point, 10-assist game in NBA playoff history.

Monte Morris scored 28 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Austin Rivers tallied 18 points and seven assists for Denver, which took a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.

Devin Booker recorded 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists to help hosts Phoenix Suns steamroll Los Angeles Lakers 115-85 and take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.

Cameron Payne added 16 points off the bench and the Suns led by as many as 36 points while notching their second consecutive win in the seven-game series. LeBron James registered 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Lakers, who played without Anthony Davis (groin).

James said the Lakers had to be better if they wanted to force a game seven against the Suns.

“A lot to cover and see what we can do better in game six, but they pretty much just kicked our ass, there’s nothing else really to say,” James said.

Chris Paul of the Suns reinjured his right shoulder while battling for rebounding position with 6:47 left in the third quarter and didn’t return. He was officially ruled out early in the fourth quarter due to a contusion. (Reuters)